The real cost of having pets

~Chameleon~

gettingready wrote: »

Zara's insurance just went up to £88.93 from November....

4 cats is £83.60

So just insurance for my 1 dog and 4 cats is now

£172.53 per month

:eek::eek::eek:

That's more than £2000 a year!! By the time you've paid out any excesses plus anything not covered by insurance, you'd be better off putting the money into a savings account to pay vet bills instead.

gettingready

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

That's more than £2000 a year!! By the time you've paid out any excesses plus anything not covered by insurance, you'd be better off putting the money into a savings account to pay vet bills instead.

Ermmm nope as Zara's one hip alone was nearly 6k this year and she needs the other done too so... not an option.

And everything is covered by her current insurance, I only paid 2x£65 this year myself. One excess for skin condition and 1 excess for the hips. And vet bills in total are just over 6k now.

George's (one of the cats) legs operations were nearly 5k last year.

So thanks but I rather have insurance as no way I could pay those bills myself.

gettingready

BTW - I am not complaining, just listing what it costs...

Love all my furies although it is all becoming more and more struggle financially...

Malky

And I thought the cost of keeping my 3 dogs at £150+ per month was high. Glad to hear you're doing your best at looking after them though. I've read many a story on pets being maltreated because the owner(s) could no longer afford to look after them properly.

kjmtidea

gettingready wrote: »

Zara's insurance just went up to £88.93 from November....

4 cats is £83.60

So just insurance for my 1 dog and 4 cats is now

£172.53 per month

:eek::eek::eek:


So :

Insurance for all 172.53 per month
Dog walker +/- £110 per month
Dog Food 18.00 per month
Cat wet food £28.00 per month
Cat Dry Food - still have it so no idea
Cat litter sod the tigerino I am back to golden grey/biocat so around £40 per month
Worming for all 3.00 per month
Flea Treatment for all 13.00 per month

I am sure I forgot something there but as it is it comes out at £384.00 per month

:eek: Wow! That is a lot of money but like you say, that is the cheaper option - having no insurance would be a lot more expensive!

rising_from_the_ashes

Have been having a bit of a nightmare with Maisie's insurance co - mucked up polices & ended up with 2 and they were taking payments for both - got refund last month & now informed current policy isn't being paid as they've now cancelled both direct debits!:(

Anyway, hopefully sorted now but thought I'd have a hunt around and see if I can reduce the cost a bit / still get good cover - currently paying £24.50 for £7.5k of cover with JL. Tried Axa which came out at £17.32 for £7k of cover so OK

Then thought I'd try Arg*os as know a few people have that and ..... OMG ...... more than JL ..... more than Petplan (was with this before @ £29 / month) and came out at £29.96 for a measly £2k of cover and £58.48 / month for £7k of cover ...... :eek: what! (that's more than double what PP / JL / Axa etc are quoting!)

Moved the cats to Axa recently and saved nearly £9 / month - if I move Maisie too that's another £7 saved .....

Sid_Wolf

wow thats high!

3 huskies here and we dont get to anywhere near that amount

Food - £20-30 a month (we change between skinners duck/salmon and burgess sensitive salmon)
Insurance - £50 a month (will be going down soon as changing policies)
Worming - £5 a month (£15 every 3 months - milbemax from vets £5 per tablet)
Treats/chews/toys - varies, some month less than £5 on some cheap treats, other months £20 or so on new toys/stagbar etc, 2 biggens on diets so not many rawhides

So a max or about £100 a month for all 3 dogs

no other costs unless they need the vets. We treat for fleas when needed rather than routinely and I work from home so no walker needed.

gettingready

Was looking for this thread - will take Zara for a walk and update with current figures...

:eek::eek::eek:

rising_from_the_ashes

gettingready wrote: »

Was looking for this thread - will take Zara for a walk and update with current figures...

:eek::eek::eek:

:eek: Will pop by later on .... prob with a stiff drink!

My insurer is pulling out & policies being sold to another provider (we don't know who yet) - Can't move Archie as he will hit the % + excess that all insurers seem to charge now over a certain age - and Maisie will hit that later this year..... *sigh*

Can't find anything comparable (even paying the % of total cost + excess) at under double what I pay now - which isn't feasible / I can't afford :mad:

On the plus side .... cat litter costs have gone down hugely since switching to Biokats / Golden Grey *

* I am totally converted as the clumping is so much better - it's worth the extra tracking! When I finish the BK I have (3 bags I think) I will be going all GG!

Buttonmoons

I just cancelled my cats pet insurance I'm struggling as it is and they are wanting near £40 a month now, I've never had to claim so when things are better for me at least I won't have that issue when I take it out again, and as I'm on a low income, I do qualify for PDSA so in an emergency I know I have them.

Didn't want to cancel but the price of everything is going up except my wages